DMX’s posthumous album Exodus arrives Friday featuring collaborations with Usher, Alicia Keys, and the Griselda crew.
Westside Gunn, Benny the Butcher, and Conway the Machine join the late rap icon on “Hood Blues.” Over the Swizz Beatz and Avenue Beatz production, the trio brings the smoke before letting the dog shine.
“I ain’t 50 years old for nothing,” X declares at the end of his menacing verse.
Swizz, who executive produced Exodus, said X heard all the collaborations when he was alive except for Moneybagg Yo’s verse (“Money Money Money”), which was recorded after his death.
“I told him, I said, ‘Yo, I know you don’t like a lot of features, but I think it’s time that people should see that other people love you as well and you’re respected by serious, serious artists,’” Swizz told Apple Music while recalling his conversation with X. “‘Although you’re humble, although you don’t really have features, let’s have fun with it, come out the gate. Then the next album, we can get back to how you want to do it, but let’s have some fun. Let’s give them something they can’t expect.’”
Some of the unexpected collaborations include Bono on “Skyscrapers” and JAY-Z and Nas together on “Bath Salts.” Other guests include Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, and DMX’s youngest son Exodus Simmons.
“I want him to get what he’s deserved,” Swizz said of his fellow Ruff Ryder. “It’s about him and his family legacy and his legacy. He trusted me with that. So we got to do the right thing.”
Exodus drops Friday.
